Dong Chinese dictionary

mǔ

male of animals

Depicts a cow (牛) with a penis (丄). In oracle bone script the animals varied in deception, such as a pig (豕), a deer (鹿), sheep (羊), horse (馬), etc.

Components

牛 Iconic component

niú

cow

丄 Iconic component

shàng

above

Depicts a penis.

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丄 than it was in ancient scripts.

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze script

Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

mǔ

male of animals; bolt of door; (of a bird, animal or plant) male; key; hills

Most common words with 牡

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	牡蛎	oyster
	牡丹	Mudan District of Heze City 菏澤市\|菏泽市[HézéShì], Shandong
	牡	key
	牡丹江	Mudanjiang prefecture level city in Heilongjiang province 黑龍江\|黑龙江[Hēilóngjiāng] in northeast China
	牡丹江市	Mudanjiang prefecture level city in Heilongjiang province 黑龍江\|黑龙江[Hēilóngjiāng] in northeast China

Sources

季旭昇《說文新證》p.91-92